The Second Rebel

May 24, 2021
The action-packed second space opera in Lewis’s First Sister trilogy (after 2020’s First Sister) skillfully maneuvers major players into position for the final installment while still constituting a satisfying story in itself. Astrid, now First Sister of Ceres, vies for more power, but becomes compromised by the very corruption she’s working to root out. Meanwhile, Hiro val Akira, exiled and trapped in a painful cyborg body, throws in their lot with a smuggling ring on the free station of Autarkeia, and must contend with forces bent on infiltration. And Lito sol Lucius, now a figurehead for the Aster rebellion, flees with a rescued operative, while back on Venus, Lito’s sister, Lucinia, risks all to carry on her brother’s work by stealing from her employers at the nefarious Val Akira labs. Replete with espionage, high-speed chases, and fight scenes, Lewis’s sophomore effort demonstrates a knack for building tension, while also adding layers of worldbuilding complexity to deliver some genuine surprises. With fascinating morally gray characters and sensitive representations of body dysphoria and disability, plus high stakes and themes of rebellion, sacrifice, and the greater good, this is a solid pick for space opera fans. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM Partners.

August 20, 2021
Lewis' debut, The First Sister (2020), was a story of threes: three protagonists, three interplanetary societies, and three dreams. The sequel uses a quartet of voices and introduces another spacefaring civilization that has been closely monitoring the entwined political, religious, technological, and social conflicts of their human neighbors. Lito, bonded with another duelist partner, is on the run as a traitor for rescuing a 200-year-old prized military asset from an illegal laboratory. Astrid, having been appointed to a more influential First Sister title, plans to use her authority to root out the corruption at the core of the Sisterhood. Hiro, still searching for a remedy to their family's atrocious legacy, is hunting for an elusive entity that could open a door to an agreement with a powerful but uncompromising race. Lito's artistic sister, Luce, who simply wants to use her talents to help others but struggles with the bias of her upper-class managers, agrees to help the rebels by stealing vital intelligence. Faced with betrayal and loss, each will have to decide what they are willing to sacrifice to attain their goals. A surprising revelation and closing twist set the stage for the finale to the First Sister trilogy.

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